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The 16th Annual Trapper Days Memorial Day Celebration will be held this Saturday, May 25, and Monday, May 27, and is a time where folks can come together, enjoy some good country fun while taking time to remember those who have fought and died for this country.
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The fun begins at 8 a.m. on Saturday with the archery shoot hosted by White Mountain Bowhunters at the Taylor Airport at 1020 Airport Road. Everyone is welcome. Limited equipment is available for youth. The cost is $35 for family, $25 for a couple, $15 for an adult, $5 for ages nine to 12 and eight and under are free.
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Brad Click, a life-long resident of Taylor and founder of Trapper Days, said, “Adults are encouraged to bring their own bows but the club usually has a couple of youth bows that the kids can use.”
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The long shot competition costs $5 for three arrows. Each arrow shot is scored and for each point, the participant receives a ticket that is entered into the raffle drawing for a deer target. The event usually last until 2:30 p.m.
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At 11 a.m., the Taylor Triple Crown of Barrel Racing, hosted by Shasta and Company Rodeo Events, kicks off at the Taylor Rodeo Park at 202 Center Street. While the event is free for the audience, participants in the youth division for ages 15 and under pay a $40 entry fee, while the open division is $50 per entry.
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Shasta Perkins, president of Shasta and Company, said that the Trapper Days event is the first leg of the Triple Crown in Taylor, with the second leg on Tuesday, July 2, in conjunction with the Fourth of July and the third leg on Saturday, Aug. 31, during the Taylor Sweet Corn Festival.
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“The barrel racing has become a tradition at Trapper Days,” shared Perkins. “For the last two years Summer Hatch, a Taylor mom, has won the Triple Crown on an American quarter horse that she has trained, named Splash of Drama.”
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“The event is also open for men and boys as well as women,” Perkins said. “It’s great to have all different kinds of people participate. We do have a few men and boys that come and more are definitely welcome.”
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At 12:30 p.m. the Soap Box Racing will commence on East Center Street at 600 Street East. The event is free for everyone, but Aaron Dunford, Town of Taylor Recreation Director, said only those 11 years and up can participate for safety reasons.
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At 2 p.m. the Third Annual Tint Sprint will take off. The event happens at Freeman Park, with a Little Tyke Race for one to four; the Youth Race for five to 12; and the Adult Race for 13 and up. The participant cost is $5 for kids 12 and younger; $15 for 13 and up.
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Participants receive a free t-shirt and packet of color. Color packets are distributed throughout the audience, who throw the powder colors onto the runners. At the end of the race, everyone gets hosed off by the Taylor-Snowflake Fire Department.
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At 5 p.m. the American Legion will host a chicken dinner at a cost of $10 per person. The dinner is a fund-raiser for the Legion and helps to cover their operational costs throughout the year.
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At 5:30 p.m. the White Mountain Horseman’s Association will put on a gymkhana. Click said, “This is their first time to participate with us during Trapper Days. The gymkhana is geared to 4H-type kids and beginners.”
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The Association puts on gymkhanas throughout the summer at the Rodeo Park but this will be the first time to do it under the lights.
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From 6 to 8 p.m. Aaron Solomon and the Dirt Road Racers, a local band from Taylor, will be performing at the Rodeo Park Pavilion. Click said, “It is a great band; folks can either come and dance as well as just enjoy the music.”
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While Sunday is a day of rest and family, Trapper Days continues at 7 a.m. on Monday with an early morning trail ride and biscuit and gravy breakfast. Trail ride participants can meet four miles west on Pinedale Road. While there is no cost for the event, participants are required to sign a waiver and will receive a free voucher for the breakfast.
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The main event is the Memorial Day Flag Ceremony at 9 a.m. on Monday at Taylor’s Historic Monument on 2 N. Main St., followed by the Veterans Memorial Day Program at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints Stake Center on 300 W. Willow Lane.
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During the Flag Ceremony, the Snowflake-Taylor American Legion Post 126 will remove the flag that is currently flying over the monument, replacing it with a new flag.
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Click said that every year the old flag is ceremoniously folded and then presented to a local veteran.
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The keynote speaker at the 10 a.m. program will be State Representative Walt Blackman, a 21-year veteran in the United States Army and Bronze Star recipient. Click noted that the ladies with Quilts of Valor will be presenting quilts this year as well.
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Click said he started Trapper Days after he had a dream about veterans. “The next morning, I told my wife, we have a beautiful monument but we don’t do anything. We need to have a program to honor these veterans and their families.”
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Click went on to share that the title Trapper was in honor of Trapper Hatch, a life-long resident of the area who was a World War II veteran. “We have five or six names of veterans who lost their lives in battle,” said Click. “One of our local historians said that 90 percent of the men left this area to serve in World War II, that left the women to do everything.”
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The unique piece of Hatch’s story, according to Click, is that during World War II, Hatch had been gone for two years and was given a furlough. At the last minute he was bumped from the flight. Standing on the foreign soil, longing home, Hatch watched the plane take off with his buddies, only to moments later watch it crash and burn with no survivors.
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Hatch returned from the war, married his sweetheart and opened Trapper’s Café, and as they say, the rest is history.
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